Motor vehicle bodies

ABSTRACT

In an integral motor vehicle body the underframe is designed to transmit loads into the body sides, ie. the loads are not taken up entirely in the underframe.

[ 1 Sept. 25, 1973 United States Patent 1191 Hemmings [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 MOTOR VEHICLE BODIES Inventor:

Keith Reginald Hemmings, Adlington, England 3,528,699 9/1970Wessells............................ 296/28 R 3,103,380 9/1963Berger...................1....,..,.1. 296/28 R 3,617,087 11/1971Hiramatsu...1..............,...... 296/28 F Primary Examiner-PhilipGoodman Att0rney-Harold T. Stowell et a],

[22] Filed: Aug. 31, 1971 21 App1.No.: 176,513

[57] ABSTRACT In an integral motor vehicle body the underframe is de-[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 9, 1970 GreatBritain.................434S4/70 signed to transmit loads into the: bodysides, ie. the

loads are not taken up entirely in the underframe.

52 us. 01. 280/1065 R, 296/28 R 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures B620 23/00246/28 R, 28 F, 106.5,

[58] Field-of Search MOTOR VEHICLE BODIES The present invention relatesto motor vehicle bodies and more particularly to the mountings for thesuspension of a motor vehicle.

According to the present invention in an integral motor vehicle body theunderframe is designed to transmit loads into the body sides, ie. theloads are not taken up entirely in the underframe.

According to a first aspect of the present invention a vehiclesuspension arrangement has the following combination of features:

a. an axle is connected to the sprung mass of a vehicle by twosuspension elements; and

b. each of the two suspension elements is connected to a wheel arch ofthe vehicle body, the wheel arch being adapted to transmit suspensionloads into the body sides of the vehicle.

According to a second feature of the invention the wheel arch comprisesa web having a substantially vertical portion extending longitudinallyof the vehicle and connected at its ends to two transverse frame membersof the vehicle body.

According to a third feature of the invention the two substantiallyvertical portions are interconnected by a suspension mounting member atintermediate points along their lengths.

According to a fourth feature of the invention the web is connected tothe transverse members by plate joints.

According to a fifth feature of the invention the wheel arch alsoincludes a substantially horizontal portion which is non-load bearing.

According to a sixth feature of the invention each of the suspensionelements comprises an air spring.

According to a seventh feature of the invention a transverse boxsectioned member extends across the trailing ends of the wheel arches sothat loads applied to the wheel arches by the front axle are transmittedby the box sectioned transverse member to the sides of the vehicle body.1

According to an eighth feature of the invention two top-hat sectionframe members extend rearwardly from the box sectioned member,each ofthese members carrying a mounting for the trailing end of two leadingsuspension arms which have their front ends connected to the vehicleaxle.

According to a ninth feature of the invention the motor vehicle has arear suspension which includes a V-frame, the apex of which is pivotallyconnected to the transverse frame member which forms part of theunderframe of the vehicle body, the said transverse member being of boxsection so as to transmit suspension loads into the sides of the vehiclebody.

According to a tenth feature of the invention the mounting for theV-frame extends longitudinally of the vehicle and has itsleading endconnected to an intermediate point of the said transverse box sectionmember of the underframe, and its trailing end connected to a furthertransverse member which itself is supported between two longitudinallyextending frame members which have their leading ends connected to thetransverse box section member.

How the invention may be carried out will now be described by way ofexample only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of part of one underframeconstructed according to the present invention; a

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but taken in the opposite direction,of a second underframe constructed according to the present invention;and

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagrammatic view of another part of theunderframe shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 1

The underframe of a public service vehicle has a transverse frame member1 which is a substantially I- shaped cross-section and which defines theleading edge of the front wheel arches of the vehicle.

The foremost transverse member 2 of the underframe is cantilevered fromthe transverse member 1 by generally longitudinally extending framemembers 3 to 7 respectively.

The front wheel arches of the vehicle are formed by load bearing,generally vertical webs 8 and 9 respectively which interconnect thetransverse frame member 1 and the next rearmost transverse frame member10.

. The two load bearing webs 8 and 9 are themselves interconnected atintermediate points along their lengths by a suspension mounting member11 which is of generally U-shaped cross-section.

Each of the wheel arches also includes non-load bearing generallyhorizontal portions 12 and 13 respectively.

Parts of a particular vehicle suspension are shown in broken lines, inorder to faciliate an understanding of the present invention, thissuspension being described and shown in our copending application Ser.No. 171,712 filed Aug. 13,1971.

The suspension comprises two leading arms 14 and 15 which have theirtrailing ends pivotally mounted at 16, and 17 respectively to thetransverse member 10. Their leading ends carry a rigid axle 18 andhorizontal platforms 19 and 20 respectively upon which two air springs21 and 22 are mounted.

The air springs 21 and 22 are secured at their upper ends to theunderside of the suspension mounting member 11 so that suspension loadsare transmitted to the sprung mass of the vehicle through the member 11and the wheel arch portions 8 and 9.

FIG. 2

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is basically similar to the embodiment ofthe invention shown in FIG/l but in this latter embodiment thetransverse frame member 10 has been replaced by a box section transverseframe member 23 which extends-between the trailing ends of the twostressed wheel'arches 8 and 9. Furthermore in this second embodiment thewheel arches 8 and 9 do not extend rearwardly from their trailing ends.

The box section transverse member 23 is designed to transmit stressesimposed on the wheel arches 8 and 9 into the sides of the vehicle body,instead of having all suspension stresses taken up in the underframeitself. In this connection it should be mentioned that although thetransverse frame member 23 has been selected to transmit these loads itwould have been possible to construct one of the other transverse framemembers of the underframe to serve the same purpose.

Extending rearwardly from the transverse frame member 23 are two top-hatsection. longitudinal frame members 24 and 25 which at their trailingends are secured to a further transverse frame member 26 which is ofU-shaped cross-section.

Two mounting points 27 and 28 for the vehicle suspension are carried bythe frame members 24 and 25.

The mounting points 27 and 28 are designed to have the trailing ends oftwo leading suspension arms pivotally connected to them, the leadingends of the suspension arms being secured to the front axle 18 of thevehicle as in the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3

This figure diagrammatically illustrates the mounting for the rearsuspension of the vehicle.

The rear suspension includes a V-frame which has its leading end, ie.its apex, pivotally connected to a mounting 29, the trailing ends of thetwo arms of the V-frame serving as platforms for two air springs whichare located between its ends and the underside of the underframe of thevehicle body. The rear axle of the vehicle is secured to intermediatepoints along the lengths of the two arms of the V-frame. This suspensionarrangement is described in more detail in our copending applicationSer. No. 171,712 filed Aug. 13, 1971.

The mounting 29 has its leading end connected to the transverse framemember 30 which is of box section and is designed to transmit suspensionloads to the sides of the motor vehicle body. The trailing end of themounting 29 is connected to a further transverse member 31, which is ofU-shaped cross-section and which is supported between two longitudinalframe members 32 and 33 which have their leading ends connected to thetransverse frame member 30 and their trailing ends to another transverseframe member 34.

Thus, as with the mounting for the front suspension shown in FIG. 2, themounting for the rear suspension is also designed to transmit suspensionloads, eg. braking loads, to the body sides.

With this arrangement of transferring the loads into the body sides itis possible to make the vehicle body as a whole of lighter constructionthan would be the case if the underframe were designed to absorb allsuspension loads.

derframe is designed to transmit loads into the body sides, ie., theloads are not taken up entirely in the underframe, having a vehiclesuspension arrangement including:

a. an axle connected to the sprung mass of a vehicle by two suspensionelements;

b. each of the two suspension elements connected,

respectively, to one of two wheel arches of the vehicle body, each wheelarch being adapted to transmit suspension loads into the body sides ofthe vehicle,

c. each wheel arch comprising a web having a substantially verticalportion extending longitudinally of the vehicle and connected at itsends to two transverse frame members of the vehicle body, the twosubstantially vertical wheel arch portions being interconnected by asuspension mounting member at intermediate points along their lengths.

2. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which eachweb is connected to the said transverse members by plate joints.

3. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which thewheel arch also includes a substantially horizontal portion which isnon-load bearing.

4. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which each ofthe suspension elements comprises an air spring.

5. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which one ofsaid transverse frame members is a transverse box sectioned memberextending across the trailing ends of the wheel arches so that loadsapplied to the wheel arches by the axle are adapted to be transmitted bythe box sectional transverse member to the sides of the vehicle body.

6. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 5 including:

a. two top-hat section frame members extending rearwardly from the saidbox sectioned member, each top-hat section member carrying a mountingpoint, each mounting point adapted to receive and carry the trailing endof two leading suspension arms which have their front ends connected tothe axle.

1. An integral motor vehicle body in which the underframe is designed totransmit loads into the body sides, i.e., the loads are not taken upentirely in the underframe, having a vehicle suspension arrangementincluding: a. an axle connected to the sprung mass of a vehicle by twosuspension elements; b. each of the two suspension elements connected,respectively, to one of two wheel arches of the vehicle body, each wheelarch being adapted to transmit suspension loads into the body sides ofthe vehicle, c. each wheel arch comprising a web having a substantiallyvertical portion extending longitudinally of the vehicle and connectedat its ends to two transverse frame members of the vehicle body, the twosubstantially vertical wheel arch portions being interconnected by asuspension mounting member at intermediate points along their lengths.2. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which eachweb is connected to the said transverse members by plate joints.
 3. Anintegral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which the wheelarch also includes a substantially horizontal portion which is non-loadbearing.
 4. An integral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 inwhich each of the suspension elements comprises an air spring.
 5. Anintegral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 1 in which one of saidtransverse frame members is a transverse box sectioned member extendingacross the trailing ends of the wheel arches so that loads applied tothe wheel arches by the axle are adapted to be transmitted by the boxsectional transverse member to the sides of the vehicle body.
 6. Anintegral motor vehicle body as claimed in claim 5 including: a. twotop-hat section frame members extending rearwardly from the said boxsectioned member, each top-hat section member carrying a mounting point,each mounting point adapted to receive and carry the trailing end of twoleading suspension arms which have their front ends connected to theaxle.